The BBC Trust has just given the green light to the free, UK release of its iPhone apps. First to hit the App Store will be the BBC News app, this afternoon.

The BBC has had iPhone apps lined up for release for some time and although the News app was available outside the UK, concerns about it being anti-competitive in the UK (where it would be unable to charge for it) meant that the BBC had to await a Trust decision.

The BBC’s Director of Future Media & Technology, Erik Huggers says in a statement this morning that the Trust’s decision opens the door to Blackberry and Android apps which will follow later this year.

The BBC News iOS app is ‘universal’ meaning it is designed for use with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The first iteration hits the App Store today but the BBC says future plans include:

- Adding BBC Local News so you can get the full range of the BBC’s regional coverage on your phone
– Adding 3G streaming of the BBC News Channel so you can watch live BBC News when you are out and about. The live stream of the BBC News Channel is currently Wi-Fi only and we’ve got some BBC infrastructure coming online soon which will enable live streaming over 3G networks.
– Further improvements, optimisation and enhancements to make the experience better and quicker

The BBC’s Sport app will presumably follow soon, although there’s no mention of it from the BBC today.